Company’s sudden shutdown closes four newspapers in eastern South Dakota

Four communities in South Dakota abruptly lost their newspapers this week, leaving more than 40,000 people without a local source of print news — at least in the near term.

Employees at the Huron Plainsman, Redfield Press, Brookings Register and Moody County Enterprise, which served the city of Flandreau, learned this week that operations would cease immediately.

“The decision was not made lightly,” read a letter from the papers’ Illinois-based parent company, News Media Corp. “Over the past months and years, we have explored every possible avenue to sustain our operations and preserve our team.”

An attempt to sell the company failed, the letter says, leaving the company in a financial position “where continuing business is no longer feasible.”

Last year, the company announced it would